By Wendy Anders

Today cities and countries throughout the world will celebrate World Car Free Day.

Costa Rica’s Transportation Minister Carlos Villalta, and Vice-minister Liza Castillo will be literally walking the talk today as they take trains, buses and bike to their meetings, said the Transportation Ministry in a press statement.

In no place does the day seem so fitting as in Costa Rica where the country has the ambitious aim to become the world’s first carbon neutral country by 2021. As it aims to reduce its carbon footprint, transportation is the biggest looming challenge. The country’s transportation sector is the largest contributor to the country’s carbon emissions, according to government sources, and is basically entirely dependent on fossil fuels.

According to last year’s State of the Nation report, nearly 1.4 million cars were in circulation in Costa Rica. Revival of the country’s passenger and also freight train system has been slow, though plans are in the works to expand and improve the rail infrastructure and services. Buses vie for cars and ever-growing numbers of motorcycles on the country’s clogged roads, making public transportation an often unpleasant and time-consuming experience.

In 2014, a study by the Larger Metropolitan Area’s Urban Planning Project (Prugam) found that the average resident of the San José, Costa Rica metropolitan area spends a total of 2 weeks per year stuck in traffic.

According to academics Lloyd Wright and Ricardo Montezuma Bogotá, Colombia holds the world’s largest car-free weekday event covering the entire city. In their research they found that Bogotá held its first car-free day in February 2000, and later institutionalized the event through a public referendum.

How do you plan to celebrate this year’s Car Free Day?